Bobs Big Boy/ Big mistake

Bobs Big Boy
4211 Riverside Dr.
Burbank, Ca. 91505
818-843-9334

Well first let me say that this location is the original Bobs Big Boy and is a cultural and architectural monument. Still has the Big Boy out front and everything. Very cool place. The service there has always been top notch and the people are very friendly as well. The vibe is 50's cool and they still have car shows there. Definitely brings you back to a simpler and nicer California. At least I think it does as I did not get to Cali and the Valley until 1969. Either way, very nice. I don't have to say anything about the Big Boy burger itself as it is a classic, as is the Pappy Parker Fried Chicken, which I'm not quite sure if they have on the menu anymore, need to look next time. So now...... the pasta. Let me start off by saying that I know full well that you don't go Bobs for pasta. but I was there with Nate and he kind of forced me into it. No Bolognese on the menu, but they did have spaghetti and meatballs. So I went for it. Four huge meatballs, very generous. Not too bad either. a little flavor, good texture, certainly not the worst I've ever had. The pasta itself was cooked well and had good texture also, very important as I hate overly or under cooked pasta. I can make pasta with the right texture so everybody else damn well better as well. But the main part of the dish and the focus of this blog is of course the Bolognese, or in this case, the sauce. Industrial. Best I can say. Right out of a 5 gallon can. Some chunks of tomatoes but with that fake tomato flavor. Bad, lifeless, tasteless. Knew it going in but had to do it for the sake of the cause. I sacrificed so you don' have to. If you are desperate for pasta and meat, get a can of Beefaroni, (which I will be reviewing here soon.) Cheaper, faster and way better. The Cherry Coke was great though. Peace out. J

Well, it's been a few days now since I posted here. I have been to two sausage places, Brat Brothers ( on Ventura in the Valley) and Wurstkutche ( downtown LA on 3rd street) in the last three days. Both were good and pretty interesting, though obviously not Bolognese. I will not review them here because, well they are not pasta. I have to have some rules and guidelines. As you can seen my next pasta was with the old king of sauce, Ragu. This Ragu has meat in the sauce, or so says the label. What can I say about Ragu with meat. Not much really. you either love this stuff or you don't. I do, nobody else I know does. Though my son will eat it, with hot sauce. He tried to get me to try it with hot sauce and I refused. It's my blog and I'll eat what I want to! This sauce was very thin, but did permeate the spaghetti pretty well. It also holds up well the following day and days beyond. Spaghetti does not go to waste around here. This is probably as low as I will go, though I will review two of my all time favorites, Beefaroni and Beef Ravioli from Chef Boy R Dee. It's pasta and it's meat, ( I think), and so I will review it. Ragu is quick, easy and frankly not as bad as most people think it is. Till next time. Ciao!

My first Bolognese

Well I figured I might as well get started, so my wonderful wife made some spaghetti bolognese for me. she followed a recipe from the New Basics cook book, with some modifictaions She was not happy with it for a few reasons. H felt that the sauce did not adhere to the spaghetti as well as she liked. She also felt that the meat I bought at the store was too lean. I however thought it was pretty good, though not the best that she has made. H stated that she thought it would be better tomorrow, we'll see. I am debating whether or not to get into to much detail regarding the details of the bolognese, or just give my impressions of the taste. We'll see as I go along. This is of course not any bolognese you can try unless you come to my home and that's unlikely. I will use this bolognese as a yardstick for future tastings. I have also decided to include spaghetti and any other meat that might added such as meatballs, etc. Until next time.

After discussing this blog with my wife, I have decided to start fresh and only review pasta bolognese that I eat from here on. No bolognese from memory. I have also decided that I will use this forum to rant about anything else I feel like. I will however do my best to tie my rants to some sort of pasta posting. Need to stay focused. Until next time.

Initial offering

Inspired by my sister in law, I am going to write a food blog. She is extremely knowledgeable about food. I don't know squat. I do however know what I like, and I like Spaghetti Bolognese. I like just about any pasta bolognese and will write about all that I encounter. Here in my hometown of Los Angeles, and everywhere that I travel. I strongly doubt this will have interest to anyone but myself, but at least I will have a record of where I like to go. Important as my ever decreasing memory fades. Stay tuned.